Building public sector integrity in Indonesia: the role and challenges of ethical leadership

Abstract

Many public sector organisations in developing countries are working ineffectively, which is due considerably to weak standards of governance that result in widespread corruption. Accordingly, this article considers how a public organisation in a corrupt political-economic environment can successfully implement measures to enhance its integrity through an emphasis especially on the role and challenges of ethical leadership. The particular focus is a large state-owned enterprise responsible for the distribution of electricity in Indonesia. The discussion is based on responses to a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, with the findings confirming that ethical leadership at various levels within and beyond an organisation plays a pivotal role in fostering and maintaining high organisational integrity.

Keywords:

• public sector
• integrity management
• ethical leadership
• Indonesia

Acknowledgements

This article is based on an unpublished doctoral thesis by Van Eeden Jones (2015), Building integrity in corrupt political economic environments: An empirical case study in Indonesia. The invaluable contribution of questionnaire respondents and interviewees is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Further pertinent details on the research methodology and design are available from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

The doctoral research on which this article is based was supported by a Nanyang Technological University research scholarship.